AC Milan tackles Juventus in Serie A’s top game of the week

The visit of Juventus to AC Milan is the crunch game of round 12 in the 2018/19 Serie A, with the league leaders looking to further underline their dominance, while nearest challengers Napoli and Internazionale will be favoured to win at Genoa and Atalanta respectively.

Juventus brought up a 10th win from 11 league matches when they defeated Cagliari 3-1 this past weekend, thanks to strikes from Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado, as well as an own goal from Filip Bradaric.

The Bianconeri are in real danger of running way from all chasers at the head of the standings, and the rest of Italy will be hoping Gennaro Gattaso’s Milan – who have blown hot and cold through the campaign – can find a way to halt Juve’s momentum.

The Rossoneri will err on the side of attack and hope that on-loan Juve attacker Gonzalo Higuain – who will reportedly be allowed to play against his ‘parent’ club – is able to find his peak form and prove a point to the Turin side, having been effectively forced out of the club following their purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year.

If Milan can deny Juve all three points in the teams’ meeting at San Siro, then title contenders Napoli and Internazionale will hope to take full advantage. The former are in fine fettle after racking up a 5-1 home win over Empoli on Friday night – featuring a hat-trick from Dries Mertens – and will head to Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris confident that they can get the better of Christian Kouame’s Genoa, who are winless in their last five Serie A outings.

Genoa’s last result was a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Inter Milan, who have found a fantastic rhythm under manager Luciano Spalletti. The Nerazzurri have racked up seven straight wins in Serie A and have emerged as surprise challengers for the title.

They will take on Musa Barrow’s Atalanta away from home in search of an eighth victory on the bounce, and will look to the likes of Mauro Icardi and Roberto Gagliardini to continue their scoring form, while Africans Keita Balde and Kwadwo Asamoah remain important figures under Spalletti.

Other Africans to keep an eye out for through round 12 include Gervinho, who will come up against a defence featuring Ola Aina and Nicolas N’Koulou when Parma take on Torino; Raman Chisbah for Frosinone at home to Fiorentina; Orji Okonkwo for Bologna away to Chievo; Ismael Bennacer for Empoli against Seko Fofana’s Udinese; and Kevin-Prince Boatang’s Sassuolo at home to Lazio.